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Top-seeded Wei Ng of Hong Kong was not required to step on to the court as his Afghan opponent, Arash Gherman, failed to turn up. Weiís match was among several walkovers on the opening day as four nations China, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Iraq dropped out of the championship.

China, one of Asiaís top badminton-playing nations, withdrew from the event due to travel problems, organizers said. Punch Gunalan, general-secretary of the Asian Badminton Confederation, said the Chinese team was due to arrive on Tuesday, but the players didnít board the Singapore-bound flight from Beijing. The key players are now from Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

HYDERABAD (India): Malaysia's second seed Kuan Beng Hong stormed into the last 16 in the Asian Championships with a 15-4, 15-5 win over Yohan Hadikusumo of Hong Kong in their second round match yesterday.

Yeoh Kay Bin, who had a walkover in the first round, chalked up an upset 15-7, 15-5 win over seeded South Korean Ahn Hyun-suk. Former national player Sairol Amar Ayub, who had a first round bye, also went through after beating Lee Chen Yen of Taiwan 15-2, 15-7.

Womenís singles player Wong Mew Choo also made it through to the third round. She beat Sania Nehwal of India 6-11, 13-10, 11-7.

I told you watch out for Saina.She almost ousted Wong Mew Choo inspite of her inexperience.Of course she had home advantage yet she's someone to look out for.

One Really bad news though..Yesterday and Today due to a national festival the newspaper agency are off on these days .However TV Channels will be covering the event and i will keep posting whenever i find news.

Gupta, with his unorthodox defensive style of play, rarely seen in this era, wore down his opponent 15-11 in the first set. The Indian, seeded 16th in this championship slowed down the pace of his aggressive rival and forced him to commit too many mistakes, though Chen caught up with Gupta at 9-all and 10-all.

With Chen adopting Guptaís style of play in the second set, the Indian got a taste of his own medicine. Soon Chen established an 8-4 lead and punished even the slightest of the errors made by World No. 64. Chen continued his good work in the decider and established a decisive 6-0 lead. Abinn fought back to narrow the lead at 7-8, but his resurgence didnít last long as he committed unforced errors.

A disappointed Abinn said the first set win made him relax. "Chen played tactically. He also attacked well. The shuttle was drifting too much and it only added to my problems," the Allahabad lad said while admitting that he played under pressure of expectations.

P. Kashyap was the other Indian to bow out, albeit in the second round. The Andhra Pradesh lad, who got a walkover from Li Yun of China, lost to the tournament 10th seed, Yuichi Ikeda of Japan, ranked 39th in the world. The Japanese dictated the trend to the Indian though the latter caught up at 6-6. But Ikeda raised his game by a few notches to take the first game 15-6.

Kashyap was a transformed player in the second. He played a more sensible but attacking game to bring his rival into submission at 15-7. Kashyap jumped into a to 2-0 lead but an improved display by the Japanese saw him surge ahead.

Gupta, with his unorthodox defensive style of play, rarely seen in this era, wore down his opponent 15-11 in the first set. The Indian, seeded 16th in this championship slowed down the pace of his aggressive rival and forced him to commit too many mistakes, though Chen caught up with Gupta at 9-all and 10-all.

With Chen adopting Guptaís style of play in the second set, the Indian got a taste of his own medicine. Soon Chen established an 8-4 lead and punished even the slightest of the errors made by World No. 64. Chen continued his good work in the decider and established a decisive 6-0 lead. Abinn fought back to narrow the lead at 7-8, but his resurgence didnít last long as he committed unforced errors.

A disappointed Abinn said the first set win made him relax. "Chen played tactically. He also attacked well. The shuttle was drifting too much and it only added to my problems," the Allahabad lad said while admitting that he played under pressure of expectations.

P. Kashyap was the other Indian to bow out, albeit in the second round. The Andhra Pradesh lad, who got a walkover from Li Yun of China, lost to the tournament 10th seed, Yuichi Ikeda of Japan, ranked 39th in the world. The Japanese dictated the trend to the Indian though the latter caught up at 6-6. But Ikeda raised his game by a few notches to take the first game 15-6.

Kashyap was a transformed player in the second. He played a more sensible but attacking game to bring his rival into submission at 15-7. Kashyap jumped into a to 2-0 lead but an improved display by the Japanese saw him surge ahead.

There were other promising Indian performances, however. Young Sagar Chopra took the first game off Lee Hyun Il, before the Korean recovered to win in three. Anand Pawar, son of former international Uday, stretched Roslin Hashim in the first game before the experienced Malaysian pulled away comfortably in the second. Junior champion Saina Nehwal had a match point against Wong Mew Chew before the Malaysian staged a great escape -- coming back from 7-10 in the second game. P Kashyap, who along with Saina Nehwal, is training at Gopichand's academy, threatened to pull off a win against Ikeda Yuichi of Japan but lost his way in the third.

The favourites, however, cruised along. Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Boonsak Ponsana had little trouble against their second round opponents.

Boonsak Ponsana beat Jung Hoon Min of Korea 15-11, 15-2. Jung troubled Boonsak in the early part of the first game with his big jump smashes, pulling up close at 11-12. Boonsak looked distracted, getting caught at the net a number of times as his opponent lifted over his head, and even misjudged a few tosses at the baseline. After a tense rally at 11-13 Boonsak raised his level in time and clinched the game with a smash.

In the second it was almost a no-contest as he seemed to have found his rhythm. He parried all of Jung's big smashes with ease -- his backhand defence was almost impenetrable on the day. A 4-0 lead became 6-2. Jung rallied back to 5-6 thanks to three successive errors from the Thai, but Boonsak then closed it out at 15-2.

Saina Nehwal almost pulled off an upset over Wong Mew Chew. Blessed with tremendous speed and power, this Hyderabadi is the next big thing in Indian badminton. She left her Malaysian opponent dazed with her speedy, attacking style of play, winning the first game and having a 10-7 lead in the second. An elementary error cost her the game and match. Presented with an easy kill at the net, Saina tried a deceptive drop -- only to see the shutle miss the sideline by an inch. Her game crumbled from then on.

Meanwhile, another woman casualty on the day was Salakjit Ponsana. The 5th seed was dumped by Hataya Yoshimi of Japan.

Top seed Wang Chen had no problem in her opening match against Faezi Gulnaz of Iran. The Iranian, who like her women compatriots, is playing her first international outside her country, lost 1 and 1. The Iranian women are playing in a specially designed outfit which covers their head and body, and have received permission from the ABC to play in it. Wang Chen will play promising Indian junior Aditi Mutatkar in the next round.

Other Indians to progress were Arvind Bhat and Chetan Anand. In the absence of the Chinese, they have a good draw and can perhaps go all the way to the semis.

Live from Hyd: Sony survives Boonsak challenge

Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com

Hyderabad, 9 September 2005:
Olympic bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro won his first big battle of the ABC championships after a bruising, 80 minute encounter with Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinal on Friday. Others to reach the men's semifinals were Ng Wei, Lee Hyun Il and Kuan Beng Hong.

Women's world no.17 Cheng Shao Chieh created the biggest upset in the singles, beating Kanako Yonekura of Japan after a tense three-game struggle. There were no other upsets in the women's singles, with top seed Wang Chen, Kaori Mori and Eriko Hirose all booking their places in the last four.

Meanwhile, Indonesia had further cause to rejoice, with two of their women's doubles pairs making it to the semis. Jo Novita and Greysia Poli played wonderful badminton to upset world no.6 pair Saralee Thoungthongkam and Satinee Jankrajangwong in straight games. After that smart achievement, they sat by the court checking messages on their mobile phones, seeming almost oblivious to the magnitude of their achievement. "We formed this partnership just three tournaments ago, and our best showing was a semifinal place at the Indonesian Open," said Poli. Indonesian coach Atik Jauhari was delighted with his young team's performance.

Their compatriots Lita Nurlita and Natalia Poluakan came through after a tough three-game win over Matsuda Tomomi and Akao Aki of Japan.

Sony was erratic and brilliant by turns. Boonsak dominated the net early in the match, catching Sony time and again with his tight dribbles. The Indonesian countered Boonsak's languid style with a blistering attack, but some spectacular winners were negated by terrible errors. The serve changed ends several times at 11-all, until Boonsak went ahead when Sony smashed into the net.

The Thai earned game point after winning a net exchange, and clinched the game with a drive to a Sony smash.

The momentum completely swung the Indonesian's way after the break, thanks perhaps to coach Joko Suprianto. His smashes more accurate, his leaping interceptions breaking the elegant Thai's rhythm, Sony raced to a 7-3 lead with some big jump smashes that punched holes in Boonsak's backhand court, Boonsak could manage only one more point as the Indonesian easily took the second game at 15-4.

It was clear by the final game that both men were exhausted. Sony seemed to have recovered his touch at the net, and despite wayward smashes, went up 9-3. It looked like Boonsak had given up, but the Thai staged a comeback thanks to three consecutive errors by the Indonesian. Sony broke with a beautiful piece of deception -- he faked a smash and dropped it in front of the net, leaving Boonsak flat-footed in the middle.

Still, the Thai egged himself on, and levelled at 9. Sony edged ahead 11-9, serve changed ends a few times, and then the Indonesian got the critical point when Boonsak netted a return. Sony went ahead at 13-10, Boonsak narrowed the deficit by one point, but again the Indonesian found his big smashes on target and fittingly closed with a jump smash.

Live from Hyd: Sony survives Boonsak challenge

Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com

Hyderabad, 9 September 2005:
Olympic bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro won his first big battle of the ABC championships after a bruising, 80 minute encounter with Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in the quarterfinal on Friday. Others to reach the men's semifinals were Ng Wei, Lee Hyun Il and Kuan Beng Hong.

Women's world no.17 Cheng Shao Chieh created the biggest upset in the singles, beating Kanako Yonekura of Japan after a tense three-game struggle. There were no other upsets in the women's singles, with top seed Wang Chen, Kaori Mori and Eriko Hirose all booking their places in the last four.

Meanwhile, Indonesia had further cause to rejoice, with two of their women's doubles pairs making it to the semis. Jo Novita and Greysia Poli played wonderful badminton to upset world no.6 pair Saralee Thoungthongkam and Satinee Jankrajangwong in straight games. After that smart achievement, they sat by the court checking messages on their mobile phones, seeming almost oblivious to the magnitude of their achievement. "We formed this partnership just three tournaments ago, and our best showing was a semifinal place at the Indonesian Open," said Poli. Indonesian coach Atik Jauhari was delighted with his young team's performance.

Their compatriots Lita Nurlita and Natalia Poluakan came through after a tough three-game win over Matsuda Tomomi and Akao Aki of Japan.

Sony was erratic and brilliant by turns. Boonsak dominated the net early in the match, catching Sony time and again with his tight dribbles. The Indonesian countered Boonsak's languid style with a blistering attack, but some spectacular winners were negated by terrible errors. The serve changed ends several times at 11-all, until Boonsak went ahead when Sony smashed into the net.

The Thai earned game point after winning a net exchange, and clinched the game with a drive to a Sony smash.

The momentum completely swung the Indonesian's way after the break, thanks perhaps to coach Joko Suprianto. His smashes more accurate, his leaping interceptions breaking the elegant Thai's rhythm, Sony raced to a 7-3 lead with some big jump smashes that punched holes in Boonsak's backhand court, Boonsak could manage only one more point as the Indonesian easily took the second game at 15-4.

It was clear by the final game that both men were exhausted. Sony seemed to have recovered his touch at the net, and despite wayward smashes, went up 9-3. It looked like Boonsak had given up, but the Thai staged a comeback thanks to three consecutive errors by the Indonesian. Sony broke with a beautiful piece of deception -- he faked a smash and dropped it in front of the net, leaving Boonsak flat-footed in the middle.

Still, the Thai egged himself on, and levelled at 9. Sony edged ahead 11-9, serve changed ends a few times, and then the Indonesian got the critical point when Boonsak netted a return. Sony went ahead at 13-10, Boonsak narrowed the deficit by one point, but again the Indonesian found his big smashes on target and fittingly closed with a jump smash.

I notice that Arvind Bhat went to 17-16 against Lee Hyun Il, only to lose it at 5-15 in the second game. Similarly with Chetan Anand, who won the first game, but seems to have collapsed in the next two. Too bad.

Cheng Shao-Chieh beating Kanako Yonekura should not come as a surprise. She took world champion Xie Xingfang to 3 games in the WC05 semis.

Hi Kanive,
Glad to receive your note. Yes, Arvind was tired by the end of the first. Chetan was simply too erratic. He could've won yesterday -- Hong didn't have a clue in the first...
Whoever faces Cheng will have plenty to think about. That girl retreives just about everything.
-Dev

Originally Posted by kanive

Thanks for the report, Dev.

I notice that Arvind Bhat went to 17-16 against Lee Hyun Il, only to lose it at 5-15 in the second game. Similarly with Chetan Anand, who won the first game, but seems to have collapsed in the next two. Too bad.

Cheng Shao-Chieh beating Kanako Yonekura should not come as a surprise. She took world champion Xie Xingfang to 3 games in the WC05 semis.

Hey guys ... can anyone tell me is gopichand's badminton academy has a website? or even a email id? My son is 11 and is in the top 6 of maharashtra (U/13), i'd like to know how the coaching works at the Gopichand Academy and what is the admission procedure?